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My Blog Writing Workflow

Blog Writing Workflow – Are you a blogger and do you have a blog writing workflow?

This is blog entry Day 9 of my 30 day blog Challenge

If you answered, “Yes” then read on. A blog writing workflow is a great way to stay focused on doing each task in the right sequence. It will help you produce quality content in a predictable and measurable way.

My 21 Step Blog Writing Workflow

Today I will share my blog writing workflow which I developed and tweaked since I started the 30 Day Blog Challenge over a week ago.

It really helps to use a timer to track how long I take to complete each step in my workflow.

The following is a very generalised workflow document I follow for most of my posts.

Some steps in this workflow deserve their own detailed sub workflow which I’ll share soon.

Priming

Idea

Brainstorm

Research

Keywords

Draft

Introduction

Main Copy

Conclusion

Subheadings

Category

Tags

Headline

Images

Call to Action

SEO Optimisation

Linking

Permalink

Proofread

Publish

Share

Priming

Approx: 5 minutes

The first step in my blog writing workflow is prime myself. I set my intentions for my new blog post.

For example my intentions may be, to share a recent experience in a positive way to help like-minded readers.

Idea

Approx: 5 minutes

Once I’ve primed myself the next step is to think of a new blog idea or look through my list of ideas. I manage my blog ideas with an app called todoist.

Brainstorm

Approx: 15 minutes

Next step is to quickly brainstorm based on my idea. Usually I’ll brainstorm by creating a list or mind map.

Research

Approx: 15 minutes

Sometimes I will research my topic to gain a deeper understanding or get clarity. My research sources are my collection of books, other blogs and websites, podcasts and youtube videos.

Keywords

Approx: 5 minutes

After the brainstorm or mind map step I will do some keyword research. This step is important if I want my blog post to rank well on google search results.

There is a real art to keyword research so I will create another post soon and delve deeper and share my keyword research process.

Draft

Approx: 20 minutes

Next step is to convert my brainstorm ideas or mind map into a first draft.

Introduction

Approx: 5 minutes

I organise my draft copy into an introduction.

Main Copy

Approx: 20 minutes

Next is to group the remaining draft copy into the main body.

Conclusion

Approx: 5 minutes

… and the remaining copy will form the conclusion.

Subheadings

Approx: 5 minutes

Once I’ve organised my draft copy into the introduction, main and conclusion I will add subheadings.

Category

Approx: less than 1 minute

Next is to select which category this blog post belongs to.

Tags

Approx: less than 1 minute

Optionally I add a few tags to this blog post.

Headline

Approx: 5 minutes

Then I work on the headline. This step is also very important in terms of quickly communicating what my blog post is about. Many readers will ignore or be attracted based on the headline. I will create another blog post to share my process for creating a headline.

Images

Approx: 10 minutes

The next step is to add a Featured Image and any other smaller images that support my blog article. The rule of thumb is to add one image for every 300 words of copy.

I source my images from StockSnap.io, gettyimages, Pexels and flickr. StockSnap is a great source for beautiful free stock photos. I use images that are royalty free or have creative commons license. Also make sure to credit the photographer in my blog post.

Call to Action

Approx: 5 minutes

Next, I’ll add a Call to Action block of text. Usually this block contains text asking the reader to leave a comment and share the blog post on their social channels.

SEO Optimisation

Approx: 5 minutes

In this step I will go through my copy and make sure that it contains the keywords from the Keyword step above. This is another important step to ensure my post is optimised for google search results.

Linking

Approx: 5 minutes

Next I’ll add links from my blog post to other relevant posts within my blog or link to external websites or resources. Sometimes I will include a list of resources in a Sources section like the one at the end of this post.

Permalink

Approx: less than 1 minute

Permalink is the URL or commonly referred to as the website address. For example the permalink for this post is https://peter.reginald.com.au/experiences/my-blog-writing-workflow. The first four words in a permalink after the .com or .com.au are keyword relevant, for example “experiences/my-blog/writing-workflow”.

Proofread

Approx: 5 minutes

Next step is to proofread and make corrections.

Publish

Approx: less than 1 minute

After proofreading and making final adjustments I will hit that ‘Publish” button and my new blog post will appear online.

Share

Approx: 15 minutes

Finally I’ll share my new blog post on my social channels. This includes twitter, facebook, google plus and linkedIn.

After sharing my post I respond to comments left by my readers.

My Goal

“Practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect.”

I currently spend a little over 2 hours on each post. My goal is to become more efficient and reduce the time it takes me to work through my blog writing workflow. At the same time I want to increase the quality of my writing. I’m always learning from top bloggers.

Excellent tips Peter for consistent blog writing – my favorite was (priming) setting what our intention is for the blog post. I also think one of the most important because every thing we do we want to have a clear purpose and intention for. Thanks for posting